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The saga started with a isolated photograph, possibly the most consequential ever snapped of a royal family member.

There stood the Earl of Inverness, standing closely beside a young woman, while an associate grinned conspiratorially in the rear.

Lacking that snapshot, shot at a social event in 2001, few would have credited the allegations of a young woman who stated she was trafficked across the Atlantic and forced to have brief relations with a prince of the monarchy?

An odd, indicative action by someone who had publicly claimed to have never been aware of her, asserted he could no have had relations with her, and yet handed over a substantial sum of monarchical resources to settle a long-delayed lawsuit.

A Long Period of Controversy

Considering this, talk of the monarchy acting firmly to sever ties with Andrew are misguided. This scandal has endured for the largest portion of 15 years since that picture, and another snapshot of Andrew strolling pleasantly with a disgraced financier came to light.

• Self-importance: For what duration did his siblings, possibly even his relatives, understand that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Questionable Associations: They must have understood, if his aides and the police were doing their jobs, that he had some deeply disreputable friends given he openly welcomed them to estates.
• Financial Extravagance: If the monarchy did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his extravagance with public money.

Journeys were listed in official documents: chopper travel from the estate to a country club and back again in time for midday meal, chartered planes instead of regular transport, all for the comfort of "Airmiles Andy".

World of Deference

Additionally the entitlement which demanded subservience when he appeared in a room or the extreme obsession about his royal titles used on his official documents in communication to his associates.

He could get away with it while his matriarch, who strangely spoiled him, was still alive. The Queen did at least remove him of public duties and honorary colonelcies in the wake of his catastrophic and, we now know, untruthful television interview six years ago.

Recent Developments

It was only in the last two weeks that events progressed rapidly, following the publication of books giving more grim particulars of his actions and that of his associates.

Further disclosures have again revealed Andrew's belief that he could get away with being untruthful about his relationship with a convicted criminal.

Society (and the press) were far in advance of the royals. There was nobody of any significance to speak up for him, a outcome of all those years of arrogance.

Royal Worries

The wiser family members recognized that. The key objective is to hand down the crown, if not as heretofore at least complete and unblemished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to overcome the legacy of earlier rulers, showing they are useful, responsible and reactive to their subjects.

Andrew was putting all that in jeopardy in an time when respect and privacy is no longer adequate.

Aftermath

Eventually, the well-known hesitant king was prodded further. There was little choice. The institution had lost control of the narrative.

Now it is the removal of honorifics and the ongoing and permanent social disgrace that will hurt Andrew most severely.

• Downgrading: Reduced to just a commoner
• Prior Instance: The primary member to surrender his honorifics in recent history
• Armed Forces: Particularly hurtful given his service in the engagement

He continues to be a royal advisor, on paper able to act for the sovereign, and he is still in the lineage to the throne, but not any of these will actually happen.

Future Prospects

Will people he meets still show respect to him? Will they still make mistakes and call him Your Highness? Would they say Andrew,

Naturally, he is not moving to an ordinary town, but to the sovereign's extensive grounds at a monarchical property.

In that place, he will be furnished by the sovereign with one of the grace and favour houses and given some type of personal stipend.

This differs from his prior accommodation, where he paid a token payment for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit far, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Outstanding Concerns

This is not over. There are still documents in the possession of US Congress to be made public.

• Parliamentary Interest: Could legislators seek further action
• Financial Investigation: Or investigate the improper use of public money
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a criminal probe into his behavior

Perhaps for the moment the institutional damage to the monarchy is restricted. The narrative from the palace was clearly that the stripping of titles was what the king, and notably other senior monarchical figures, sought.

Changed Stance

An end to deception that Andrew was acting willingly. And, notably, the concise announcement showed clearly that the monarchy were siding with the accuser's account of events.

Additionally, for the premiere occasion they finally showed regard for the victims: "The censures are deemed necessary, despite the reality that he persists in refuting the allegations against him."

Finally it is entitlement, selfishness and inactivity that will undermine the crown. In his folly, self-gratification and venality, Andrew seems never to have grasped that lesson.